Do Indian Women Want Lighter Skin?

[abbey_08]

yeh but boob job adverts have the same theme of 'the one obstacle in my life...' kinda thing. i dont think its racist. it just plays on insecuritys of women cos we are never happy with anything....we either think we are too pale, too dark, too fat or too thin and comestic companys tap in on these insecurities and market products aimed at people seeing it and thinking 'omg if i take that my life will be better'. i dont think its racist...if a skin lightner is racist then so is a bottle of fake tan in my eyes.

theres a difference between racisim (hating on someone purely because of their race and being predjuce) and not particularly liking pale skin. i think sometimes racism word comes in too quickly when talking about skin colour...not liking something doesnt make a person racist.

[tottycat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DirtyPlum

LOL, damn I'm NC40 I better dig out the Fair n Lovely! Haha, maybe thats why I'm single too! Lol, its so funny you are spot on!
I got told by this guy once, you'll have no prob finding a guy, you have a nice personality, smart, and youre 'fair' - I just looked at him and shook my head. Its so shallow but youre right its ingrained in the culture and minds of south asians, I worry it wont ever change.

This is not a joke!! I just got back from Bangalore, and they think that NC25-30 is the pinnacle of beauty! I'm an NC25 (I'm half Japanese and half European) and I actually have had people stroking the skin on my arm saying my skin colour is so beautiful (these are South Asian women). I've never noticed it myself...it's just the color I am.

LOL! I've been asking my other half if I look like fish paste and do I need the fake tan! Cultural differences, I guess!

[stronqerx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by glam8babe

thats not a very nice thing to say

my pale ass has to agree. I think everyone just isn't happy with what they have to work with. I used to feel bad about my skin color, and even thought about tanning, but my bf made me feel better and plus i rather look pale then orange rite?

[DirtyPlum]

Tottycat - I know!! I laugh at it cos its part of my culture (im south asian) and quite frankly, thats all that I can actually do abt it!

[tottycat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DirtyPlum

Tottycat - I know!! I laugh at it cos its part of my culture (im south asian) and quite frankly, thats all that I can actually do abt it!

Well the bottom line is that we all can't look like Aishywarya Rai, skin colour or not! We should all embrace what we have. I didn't even realise that it was such a big deal in India, until I went to buy some fake tan after my luggage got delayed in London. Needless to say, I didn't find any self tan at Health and Glow, but I sure did find lots of whitening cream!

[jdepp_84]

Well to be honest I would kill to have darker skin. I hate having fair skin and dont understand why anyone would want to have lighter skin. Well okay I do understand the whole social bias behind such a reasoning, but seriously, women with darker skin are gorgeous! I cant believe its 2008 and society is still pushing such stigmas on women that already have enough pressure to be skinny, tall etc.

[sedated_xtc]

I'm not sure, but when I was in Hong Kong a couple years ago, the hugest thing going was the skin whitening potions. Sort of like the new fad, it's not always about actual having WHITE skin per se, but to have lighter skin that's evenly toned with no freckles, sun spots or stuff like that imo.

[tottycat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sedated_xtc

I'm not sure, but when I was in Hong Kong a couple years ago, the hugest thing going was the skin whitening potions. Sort of like the new fad, it's not always about actual having WHITE skin per se, but to have lighter skin that's evenly toned with no freckles, sun spots or stuff like that imo.

You are right about that, but that's not a new trend per se. I am a case in point...since I am 50% Celtic and 50% Japanese, I got the double whammy in the hyperpigmentation department. If I don't wear SPF 50 everyday, not only do I tan as soon as I go out in the sun (not very likely here in London this time of year, but I do tan rapidly), my face explodes with freckles. If you look at my skin close up, you will see a zillion freckles, just like those of a red-head, because half of my family has milk-white skin and blue eyes (and never tans). So, I have the worst of both worlds in the hyperpigmentation department -- these freckles can enlarge into big sun spots if I am not careful. You can see this effect on rural women in East Asia, who have never worn sun protection in their life.

So, I do use whitening formulations by Shiseido, NOT to appear whiter (for heaven's sake, I am NC25, I don't want to be any paler), but to damp down melanin production and prevent age spots. Oh, and don't forget the SPF--I wear a minimum of 15 even if I'm not leaving the house, upto SPF 50 when I am outside in sunny weather, even in the UK.

So, it's not just pale redheads that have tons of freckles! I have just as many, but they are not as noticeable because I am not extremely pale (e.g. NW15).

[Mabelle]

This is freakin WEIRD! It;s Written by Heather Timmons... Im Heather Timmons!!!
This is soo weird. I was watching law and order a couple hrs ago and the murder vics name was Timmons. My last name isnt even very common.

frrreeeaaakkkyyy.

[Holy Rapture]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mabelle

This is freakin WEIRD! It;s Written by Heather Timmons... Im Heather Timmons!!!
This is soo weird. I was watching law and order a couple hrs ago and the murder vics name was Timmons. My last name isnt even very common.

frrreeeaaakkkyyy.

Sure is ...

[cupcake_x]

*Sigh*

It was a very interesting article- Although it saddens me that women can't love themselves for who they are! I think ALL skin colors are absolutely beautiful.

I do understand the whole "fairer staying inside/darker being outside in the fields" thing, but I feel like it should have never mattered to begin with.

[Shadowy Lady]

I haven't been to India but I do have two Indian friends and they have been there many times and have told me stories of ppl wanting to be lighter. One of these girls' moms even told me years ago that I should go to India as Indian men will love me coz I'm fair and lovely!!! (btw, I'm not even that fair, but I guess it's a relative term)

[sedated_xtc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tottycat

So, it's not just pale redheads that have tons of freckles! I have just as many, but they are not as noticeable because I am not extremely pale

Me too!!! I've got Asian skin with slight yellow undertones but around my cheekbones, I have some spotty freckles and they really annoy me. I admit to buying some of these whitening creams/masks before but it's because I use them to try to even out my skin tone and imo, I feel that a slightly fairer complexion works better with the makeup I put on.

And as a side note, I flipped through my Maclean's from last week (I think it was last week) and came upon this article, which is imo, similar to the first article and it scares me that it's so common for advertisers to demean other people based on the colour of their skin to promote their product.

I'm all for capitalism in some respects, but when this happens it just makes me sad.

Here's the online link to the article I was talking about if anybody's interested!!!
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